Angelique Kerber's profile keeps rising at the U.S. Open

By Bobby Chintapalli, Special for USA TODAY

NEW YORK
–
Angelique Kerber is in the top 10, and everyone wants to know how she got there so fast. Several times in varied ways she was asked last month in Cincinnati, where she lost in the final, and people want to know this week at the U.S. Open, where it all began for her last year.

By Susan Mullane, USA TODAY Sports

Angelique Kerber of Germany has played her best tennis at the U.S. Open.

Angelique Kerber of Germany has played her best tennis at the U.S. Open.

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The 24-year-old German, who's at a career-high No. 6 ranking, isn't as well-known as others in the top 10. She's not as familiar as Serena Williams or Maria Sharapova, who are ranked higher, but also not as recognizable as Sam Stosur or Caroline Wozniacki, who are ranked lower.

Kerber has won more matches than any of them, more in fact than any WTA player this year. The previous two years she won 40 matches combined. Her under-an-hour win against Olga Govortsova in the third round Saturday brings her total this year to 56.

"First I practice more than before, and I practice harder," Kerber said in Cincinnati, as top-10 player Novak Djokovic walked by with several people in tow.

Yes, Kerber's talking about practice, but she also attributes her speedy rise to improved fitness. Plus, she says, it helps to have her coach, Torben Beltz, travel with her full time. Until a year and a half ago she'd sometimes travel with a coach, other times with her mom.

Recent German success has rubbed off on her, too. The current top 50 includes five Germans — Kerber, Julia Goerges, Sabine Lisicki, Mona Barthel and Andrea Petkovic. "Everybody was playing so well, and I know that if they can do it I can do it also," Kerber says.

Says Kerber, "Before the U.S. Open I was in the tournament and I just played the matches, not thinking about (anything). I'd just go out, have fun. Then I reached the semis, and it was amazing for me. I was coming from nowhere, and nobody expected this. After the U.S. Open I just realized I can beat the top players."

And she has. After never beating a top-10 player before 2012, she has eight wins this year against top-10 players, including Caroline Wozniacki, Petra Kvitova, Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams. She has defeated Venus Williams three times, most recently in the second round here.

"Obviously she's playing great this year," Venus said after the match. "This is her year."

Kerber's ride to the top has been fast. After breaking into the top 100 five years ago, this year she won her first singles title at Paris (indoors) and reached at least the quarterfinals at three of the last four majors. By May Kerber was in the top 10.

"This is the new face in the top 10," No. 2 Agnieszka Radwanska says. "She's a very tough opponent."

The left-handed Kerber doesn't possess weaponry comparable to a Serena Williams serve or a Stosur forehand, but she doesn't give points away. Some call her a counterpuncher.

They wonder if she's the new Wozniacki. Asked to compare them, Kvitova said last month that Wozniacki and Kerber are similar but that Kerber plays "a little bit faster from both sides."

On Saturday Sara Errani of Italy, another top-10 player and Kerber's opponent in the fourth round, had good things to say: "She defend good, she attack good, she makes almost everything very good."

Kerber herself summarizes her game most accurately and concisely: "My game is to play, you know, both — the mix from aggressive to defensive."

Off court Kerber isn't certain how to describe herself: "I'm a quiet person, not the person to go out every day."

When she does go out with other players Kerber, who's of German nationality and Polish heritage, has several groups to choose from: "I have very good contact with the Polish girls and also with the German girls. So that's very nice to go sometimes out with the Polish girls and sometimes with the Germans. It's different, because Polish people are a little bit different than German people."

She ends with a little laugh.

Kerber, who's vacationed with the Radwanska sisters and Caroline Wozniacki, speaks English, German and Polish.

It's not always clear what language Kerber is speaking on court, but she has things to say. Whether it's her sarcastic racket clap in her win against Lisicki at Wimbledon or her assortment of emotions in her win against Venus Williams this week, Kerber doesn't keep the feelings in. During her match against Venus, Chris Evert, a former player known for her icy demeanor on court, seemed fascinated by Kerber's sometimes fiery displays.

Kerber says it's who she is: "I'm a very emotional person, so it doesn't matter if it's on or off court."

This year's U.S. Open is not last year's U.S. Open. Being in the top 10 is different from getting there. Fans are watching Kerber closely, as are reporters. "She's the only reason why I am here," said a German reporter watching Kerber from the media seats Saturday.

And players? Last month a reporter asked Kerber whether opponents now say to themselves, "Oh God, I have to play Angelique Kerber now."

"I think so," Kerber said, pausing to laugh. "And I hope."

It's stressful but satisfying, too, she says, and she hopes it stays that way, especially here in New York.

"Right now I also have a little bit pressure," Kerber says. "So it's for sure different than last year. But it feels good and I have a lot of good memories from last year. So, yeah, I hope I can continue this."

On Monday Kerber gets a chance to keep on keeping on in New York, where she'll play Errani for a spot in the U.S. Open quarterfinals.

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